Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Caroline Sherman
The Toronto Rock (0-5) visited the Buffalo Bandits (4-0) on Friday January 10, 2025, in a game where the Rock were trying to win for the first time this year and the Bandits were looking to stay undefeated. Buffalo has ended the Rock’s season the last three years and the injuries the Rock have endured so far this season has kept five of the top players out for many of their games. Challen Rogers (1G, 6A) was back in the lineup, but Mark Matthews was put on the IR this week and will miss the first game of his career. Buffalo is a force to be reckoned with as they have dominated at this point in the season, having a +26-goal differential so far. The packed Key Bank Center witnessed a great back and forth game as Toronto gave the Bandits all they could handle. It took a fourth quarter run for the Bandits to take the late lead and an empty netter to seal the 15 – 13 win to stay undefeated.
Less than two minutes into the first quarter, Brian Cameron (2G, 1A) beat his defender down low and his high to low bounce shot beat Matt Vinc (23 saves) through the legs for the early 1 – 0 lead for Toronto. Less than a minute later, the Rock would go man up and Rogers would fire a high-to-high shot over the glove shoulder for a 2 – 0 lead. A few minutes later, Buffalo would get one back. Ian MacKay (5G, 3A) flipped a pass to Josh Byrne (3G, 4A) and his twister shot beat Nick Rose (1A, 30 saves) to the stick side cutting the Rock lead to 2 – 1. Buffalo would tie it up two minutes later when Toronto lost the ball in transition, Dhane Smith (2G, 8A) passed to Kyle Buchanan (2G, 2A) right on the crease, and he beat Rose over the shoulder. The Rock would regain the lead 90 seconds later. Josh Dawick (2G, 1A) fired a high-to-high shot over Vinc’s shoulder to the top corner and they’d go up 3 – 2. Buffalo would tie it up again a minute later when Smith passed to Tehoka Nanticoke (1G) behind the net, he came in front spun around and as he was falling went far side. Dawick would notch his second in a row as he backed in on his defender and threw an underhanded shot that beat Vinc to the far corner to make it 4 – 3. On the next possession, 14 seconds after the Dawick goal, Chris Boushy (3G, 3A) spun on his defender and his low-to-low shot went through the legs putting the Rock up 5 – 3. With less than a minute left in the first, Buffalo would see MacKay put up two in a row. The first was a high-to-high shot that pinged the top corner over the stick side shoulder, and it was 5 – 4. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the first, some rough stuff happened between Billy Howstrawser (1A) and Nick Weiss (1G, 1A), Weiss went off for fighting and Toronto ended up on their third power play in the frame. Unfortunately for Rock fans, they could not capitalize, but Buffalo was able to put up a shorthanded tally. MacKay received a pass from Dylan Robinson (1A) and his long sidearm shot went short side to tie the game at five with less than one second left in the quarter. The shots at the end of the first quarter were Buffalo 13 and Toronto 12.
On a delayed penalty, just over three minutes into the second quarter, Smith pushed his defender to the ground, threw eight fakes and beat Rose over the shoulder to take their first lead of the game at 6 – 5. While on another Toronto power play, Corey Small (2G, 2A) received a pass from Boushy, threw a fake and his twister shot beat Vinc to the short side for his 900th career point. This tied the game at six with just under five minutes gone in the second quarter. Small would get his second goal in a row with a high to low shot bottom corner to make it 7 – 6 for the Rock. The Bandits would tie it again while shorthanded. Byrne cut across the top, threw it back the other way and went over the shoulder on the far side to tie the game at seven. The Rock would get the lead back with 1:28 left in the half. Cameron picked up a loose ball firing a high to low shot that went bottom corner glove hand side to make it 8 – 7. The shots at the end of the first half were Buffalo 23 and Toronto 21.
The third would start with penalties just 3:54 in and Toronto being the recipient of a major five-minute penalty for high sticking allowing MacKay to fire a high to low shot from the top that went five hole for his hat trick goal to tie the game at eight. Buffalo would put up another while still on the major powerplay. MacKay notched his second in a row off a pass from Smith and his high-to-high shot beat Rose off the cross bar, off of his back and in giving the Bandits a 9 – 8 lead. Off the ensuing faceoff, Toronto’s Justin Martin (1G, 1A) picked up the loose ball, went in with a defender all over him, his side arm shot hit Vinc in the leg and rolled over the line to tie it back up at nine with five minutes left in the third. The Rock would tally the go-ahead marker while in transition. Boushy took a low to high side arm shot to the top corner over Vinc’s shoulder and the score was 10 – 9 for Toronto with less than three minutes left in the third quarter. Right after the goal, Elijah Gash (Toronto) and Zack Belter (Buffalo) fought, Gash landed one punch that knocked Belter out and to add insult to injury, Belter was given an extra two minutes for an instigator penalty and thrown out of the game. Toronto had multiple chances on a 5 on 3 power play but couldn’t find the back of the net. The shots at the end of the third quarter were Buffalo 37 and Toronto 27.
The fourth would be almost as high scoring as the first, with the teams putting up a combined nine. Toronto would start the frame on the man up which carried over from the third. On the power play Dan Craig (1G, 2A) toe dragged his defender and put the ball over Vinc’s shoulder giving the Rock a two-goal lead 11- 9, one minute into the fourth. Thirty seconds later Byrne would take a bounce shot, it got caught up in Rose’s leg guard and as he walked backwards, it fell out and rolled over the line to make it 11 -10 for the Rock. On the next possession, MacKay received a pass from Smith and his bounce shot beat Rose through the legs and in 12 seconds the game was tied at 11. Less than a minute later Buchanan came around his pick and put a bounce shot five-hole giving Buffalo the 12 – 11 lead. Toronto would make a change in net at this point, giving Troy Holowchuk (11 saves) the nod. With just over five minutes gone in the fourth, Boushy would come from behind the net, jumped high in the air and dunked the ball over the shoulder of Vinc to tie the game at 12 giving him his hat trick goal. In transition, and 5:31 left in the contest, Mitch deSnoo (1G) would come down the floor, beat his defender and his high to low bounce shot went stick side restoring the Toronto lead to 13 – 12. Toronto’s hopes for the win would dwindle in the last 1:13. It started with Chase Fraser beating his defender down low, jumping over the crease to beat Holowchuk over the near shoulder, tying the game at 13. With 43 seconds left while in transition, Weiss would take the ball down the side, faked high and shot low through the legs to give Buffalo a 14 – 13 lead which they would not relinquish. The Rock would pull the goalie in favor of the extra attacker leaving a wide-open net for Smith. Brad Kri almost picked off the shot, but it bounced into the net with eight seconds left giving the Bandits a 15 – 13 win. The shots at the end of the game were Buffalo 56 and Toronto 36.
The three stars of the game were:
Dhane Smith – Buffalo Bandits: 2G, 8A
Ian MacKay – Buffalo Bandits: 5G, 3A
Challen Rogers – Toronto Rock: 1G, 6A
GAME STATS
Toronto Rock—SOG 37; Saves 42; Sv% .737; FO 9-31; PP 3-7; PIM 32
Buffalo Bandits—SOG 52; Saves 24; Sv% .649; FO 22-31; PP 2-5; PIM 47
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (0-5) will play host to the Saskatchewan Rush (3-1)*** at Paramount Fine Foods Centre on Saturday January 18, 2025, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+ while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.
The Buffalo Bandits (4-0) will host the Philadelphia Wings (4-1) at KeyBank Center on Saturday January 18, 2025, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+ while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse Is Awesome©
***Record at time of article